One Life Funeral Planning Ltd (In Administration) (“the Company”)

October 31, 2023 

Offers of discount for plan holders of One Life Funeral Planning Limited  

 

As you are aware, the Joint Administrators were unable to achieve a transfer of your One Life Funeral Plan to another FCA-authorised funeral plan provider.

The Joint Administrators’ previous efforts to reach an agreement with a single preferred FCA-approved provider to offer a discounted plan were not able to be concluded successfully before the Joint Administrators had to make the difficult decision to stop providing funeral services.

However, discussions with the National Association of Funeral Plan Providers (“NAFPP”) and their members have continued and the Joint Administrators are pleased to be able to confirm that a number of members of the NAFPP are now able to offer One Life customers discounts on the purchase of a new funeral plan. This means that, if you decide to buy a new funeral plan, the price you pay for your new funeral plan would be discounted against its current advertised retail price with that provider.

If you do not want to buy a new funeral plan, you may be able to claim a discount on “at need” funeral prices (when the person who was covered by the One Life funeral plan dies). “At need” funeral prices are the prices you pay when you go to a funeral director without having a funeral plan.

Contact details of all the providers who may be able to offer you a discount on either a new funeral plan, or “at need” funeral prices, are shown below. You are invited to contact as many as you wish to establish what discount they will offer you.

The Joint Administrators have deliberately excluded details of the discounts offered by each provider as we do not wish to promote or recommend any provider above another and not every discount will be available to every One Life plan holder, so you should make you own enquiries and make your decision as to whether to take up any of these offers.

We appreciate that for many of you, the discount will be a small comfort when considering the money you may have lost in One Life, and indeed you may be concerned about entering into another funeral plan arrangement. It is entirely your choice whether you wish to make enquiries with these FCA-authorised providers or not.

However, all the following Funeral Plan Providers are FCA-authorised and any payments you make into one of these plans, up to a maximum of £85,000, are therefore protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The providers have all been given limited information about One Life’s plan book, which will enable them to verify you as being a One Life Plan Holder should you wish to make enquiries with these providers. In order to comply with data protection rules, the providers have only been given:

Your Surname

First part of your Postcode

Your One Life Plan Number

 

This means that if you make an enquiry with one or more providers, you only need to confirm the above information to potentially qualify for a discount, however please note that some providers will be limited by location and availability and may be unable to provide you with a plan.

 

The NAFPP members willing to offer discounts to One Life plan holders are:

NAFPP Member Website  Contact details Pre-need Discount At Need Discount
Central England Co-operative Funeral Plans centralcoop.co.uk 01543 421303

onelife@centralengland.coop

No Yes
Choice Funeral Plans choiceplan.co.uk  onelife@funeralpartners.co.uk Yes Yes
Crystal Cremations crystalcremations.co.uk 01204 951066 Yes Yes
Golden Leaves Funeral Plans goldenleaves.com 0800 078 9292 Yes No
Pure Cremation Funeral Planning purecremation.co.uk 0808 141 0783 Yes Yes
Southern Co-operative Funerals southern.coop 0800 008 6878 Yes Yes

 

The Joint Administrators are in the process of concluding the Administration and are not able to advise you on whether you should proceed with any of these providers, we are merely connecting you together, for you to make your own arrangements, if you choose to do so.

The Joint Administrators are also unable deal with any queries that arise relating to these discounted funeral plans and are not able to recommend any of the providers. You will be able to obtain full details of the discounted funeral plans and their availability by contacting the relevant provider(s).

Andrew Watling and Kelly Mitchell were appointed as Joint Administrators of the Company on 2 November 2022.

Further to our previous correspondence regarding the administration of the Company and the ongoing provision of funerals while we endeavoured to secure a sale or transfer of the Company’s funeral plans to another funeral plan provider which is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) to provide funeral plans, we are writing to you to update on the outcome of those efforts and to inform you that the Company is no longer in a position to provide funerals.

Ceasing Provision of Funerals

The Company ceased providing funerals on 30th June 2023.

If bereavements have been reported prior to 30 June 2023 and the funeral has not yet taken place, and any bereavements before that date, but not yet notified to us will still be honoured and paid for by the Company.

The Company will not provide a funeral in relation to any bereavements after 30 June 2023. Therefore, you will have to make your own alternative arrangements with another funeral provider.

Please contact us using the email address below for further details.

Please do not contact the funeral company, who may have been nominated to provide your funeral direct as they are unable to provide any assistance with this situation.

Is someone else taking over my plan / Was my plan transferred? / Attempted Sale or Transfer of the Plan Book

Unfortunately, it was not possible to achieve a sale or transfer of the Company’s funeral plans with plan holders to an FCA authorised funeral plan provider. We also attempted to secure agreement with an FCA authorised funeral plan provider to offer the Company’s plan holders new funeral plans which credit plan holders for the amounts they had already paid to the Company, or to offer plan holders a new, discounted funeral plan. Unfortunately, those discussions were not successfully concluded in the limited time available, given the limited funds available to continue to trade.

Attempted Sale or Transfer of the Plan Book

Unfortunately, it was not possible to achieve a sale or transfer of the Company’s funeral plans with plan holders to an FCA authorised funeral plan provider. We also attempted to secure agreement with an FCA authorised funeral plan provider to offer the Company’s plan holders new funeral plans which credit plan holders for the amounts they had already paid to the Company, or a simple discounted funeral plan. Unfortunately, those discussions were also unsuccessful in the time we had available.

How do I claim back my direct debit instalments paid since the Company entered administration on 2 November 2022?

We have arranged for all plan holders’ direct debits to be cancelled from 30 June 2023 and as previously advised, we will process refunds of all direct debit payments received from plan holders since 2 November 2022. This was actioned on 30 June 2023 and may take 7-10 days to appear in plan holders’ bank accounts.

How do I claim back my direct debit instalments paid before the Company entered administration on 2 November 2022?

You may only request a chargeback from your bank under the Direct Debit Guarantee if a payment is taken in error, for instance, if a payment is taken on the incorrect date, for the wrong amount, or if you have not been notified of the payment.

Unfortunately, the Direct Debit Guarantee cannot be used in circumstances whereby no service has been provided due to a company ceasing to trade.

Will I get back money that I paid prior to the administration of the Company?

The Administrators understand that monies paid by plan holders prior to the Administration (being 2 November 2022) were paid into the One Life Trust (the “Trust”) and were drawn down by One Life Funeral Planning Ltd to meet its operating costs and provide funerals for its plan holders.

Since Administration, the funds have continued to be used for this purpose, while the Administrators attempted to achieve a solution for plan holders and communicate with plan holders.

After deduction of those costs, there are no funds available in the Trust to pay a refund in relation to amounts paid by plan holders prior to 2 November 2022.

We have written to everyone we consider to be a creditors and as above, there is no prospect of a dividend to creditors, therefore, there is no need to complete a proof of debt in order to register your claim.

Can I get my money back from my card provider?

As previously noted, if you have paid all or part of your plan by credit or debit card, you may be eligible to claim a repayment from your card provider.  You should contact your card provider to find out if you are eligible for a refund. If you do receive a refund, we ask you to notify the Company that the refund has been received so the Company’s records can be updated.

Where can I find out more about my rights to a refund?

You may find some useful information through the link below:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/getting-your-money-back-if-you-paid-by-card-or-paypal/

Can I receive any financial help with my funeral costs?

Please follow the below link for more information with regards to government assistance and to find out if you are eligible to receive financial help with funeral costs and expenses:

https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments

Are the payments I previously made protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme?

The Company is not FCA authorised, and therefore your payments are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and plan holders are unable to refer a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Had your plan been transferred to an FCA authorised provider, then those plans would have become covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

When will the Administration end?

The Administration is currently due to end automatically on 1 November 2023 as this will be 12 months from the date of the appointment of the Administrators. This period can be extended with consent of the creditors for up to 12 months or longer by application to the court.

However, it is unlikely that the Administration will need to continue for much longer and the formalities of closing the Administration will commence as soon as possible.

How do I contact the Administrators?

The Administrators set up a dedicated UK-based customer service team to assist plan holders with their queries, but this service will be withdrawn on 31 July 2023, in order to save costs.

The customer service team is available to be contacted by freephone on 0808 178 3018 (Office hours 9am to 5pm)

We also have a dedicated email onelifefuneralplanning@quantuma.com if you prefer to contact us in writing, or to send any documents.  This email will be regularly monitored and we will endeavor to respond to your emails promptly.

Contact points:

Email:                  onelifefuneralplanning@quantuma.com

Telephone:        0808 178 3018

Post:                    One Life Funeral Planning Ltd (In Administration), c/o Quantuma Advisory Ltd, Office D, Beresford House, Town Quay, Southampton, SO14 2AQ

The affairs, business and assets of the Company are being managed by the Joint Administrators, Andrew Watling and Kelly Mitchell, who act as agents of the Company without personal liability. Andrew Watling and Kelly Mitchell are licensed as insolvency practitioners in the United Kingdom by the ICAEW